


Have You Met Him?

by Molly_Jae



Category: Shadowhunters (TV), The Shadowhunter Chronicles - All Media Types, The Shadowhunter Chronicles - Cassandra Clare
Genre: Alternate Universe - This World Inverted (Shadowhunters TV), Falling In Love, Fluff, Friendship, Friendship/Love, M/M, Pre-Relationship, Pre-Slash, Short & Sweet, Sweet
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-09
Updated: 2021-03-09
Packaged: 2021-03-16 00:08:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,666
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29941494
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Molly_Jae/pseuds/Molly_Jae
Summary: Before the wedding-that-was-not, Magnus catches a glimpse of the TWI universe (and that world's Alec).
Relationships: Magnus Bane & Ragnor Fell, Magnus Bane/Alec Lightwood
Comments: 5
Kudos: 66





	Have You Met Him?

**Author's Note:**

> Taking a quick break from the angst fest that is [Broken Mirrors](https://archiveofourown.org/works/27265462) to post this.

It takes him a minute to realize he is no longer in his city. Well, Magnus muses to himself, it’s still New York. Only, it isn’t his New York. Just as this is his apartment, but not  _ his _ apartment. His hands reach up to fix his vest, but he startles when his  _ bare _ hands make contact with soft fabric.

Apparently, the Magnus Bane of this world prefers sweaters and comfort to leather and aesthetics. A purr catches his attention, and Magnus watches as Chairman Meow settles in front of him and stares.

“Well you certainly look like one of the strays back in my apartment, but better smelling and with a fancy collar.” Magnus smiles, picking the Chairman up and heading for the bookshelf. This is going to be a quick trip. He had called in one of the favors owed to him by a seelie to land himself in the dimension where Ragnor has hidden his journal. The thought of his deceased friend makes his heart ache. It has only been a few hours since he’s had to hide his body--to be returned to and properly buried with the ceremony fitting his station when Magnus was no longer so tied up with shadowhunter business.

There’s no new lead on the Book of the White--rather, Biscuit and Chace were  _ kind _ enough to give him time to mourn his friend--so, knowing that there’s a journal out there that holds some of Ragnor’s most dangerous (and ambitious) spells and experiments, Magnus figured it would be best to keep such a thing on his person. Or at least in a place he can easily access it. With Valentine on the rise, who knows what he’d need to do?

Well, Ragnor might have.

_ Actually, what is my Cabbage doing today?  _

He places Chairman Meow next to another cat.  _ Church _ , he recalls.

Shaking his head, he thinks of Raphael and Catarina, who still haven’t been informed of Ragnor’s death. The idea of having to deliver that message makes him want to throw up, and it’s enough to keep him grounded enough not to assimilate with this dimension’s version of himself.

His magic reaches out to the rest of the space, curling out of him and around every crevice of the loft, searching for magic not of this dimension. 

It’s a lot easier than he expected, and within a minute, he has the worn dragon hide journal in his hand. Hands open to summon a portal, he gets distracted by the sight of tarot cards stacked neatly on the edge. An inconspicuous notebook sits beside it, looking a lot like the one he keeps to note down clients.

Magnus walks over and opens it. Maybe he has clients that transcend dimensions?

_ I have a client at 12nn. _

He drums his fingers on the desk, and tucks Ragnor’s journal under his arm. There’s no harm in sticking around and maybe doing a prediction or two.

_ I don’t have any other plans anyway. _

It amuses him that at the top of the deck is  _ The Fool _ , and he wonders who his other self might have been reading for beforehand. He pulls it up, surprised when he finds a different card instead.

_ The Lovers _ .

A phone rings, and Magnus summons it with a twist of his hand. He places the card on the desk, face up, and puts the phone to his ear.

“Hello?  _ Magnus’ Magnanimous Meanderings _ .” 

_ “Found you,” _ there’s a chuckle from the other end that sends a shiver down Magnus’ spine. He can’t quite place who it is, and even checking caller ID revealed an unregistered number, but he knows there’s at the very least an  _ attraction _ there. _ “Magnus Bane, right?” _

The warmth that creeps on to his cheeks accompanies the flutter in his stomach. A part of him wonders where he’s heard this voice before, and another doesn’t care. “Yes, and this is?”

_ “Am I that forgettable to you, Magnus?” _ The teasing lilt in the man’s voice speaks of intimacy and fondness, but there’s an underlying concern to it that disarms Magnus more than he cares to admit.

There’s a knock on his door that echoes between the phone and what he actually hears.

And when he opens the door and finds himself looking into broad shoulders, hazel eyes, and an immaculately styled suit and hair, Magnus thinks

_ Oh. _

_ Alec. _

_ Alec Lightwood. _

The smile he receives makes him weak in a way he hasn’t felt in over a century. He takes a small step back when Alec reaches out for him, and just like that, he’s pulled back to his dimension. Greetings and farewells pass by his lips as he speaks to his seelie contact, and the moment he’s back in his loft, he needs to take a second to reorient himself.

Everything is as he left it earlier that day. The sun’s setting rays tell him the following day looms even closer, and the golden invitation sitting in the middle of his coffee table tells him just what tomorrow entails.

He goes into his office to secure Ragnor’s journal, and then pivots to the drinks cart to make himself a drink.

There’s a small nagging in the back of his mind he wants so badly to ignore. It whispers of his quick trip and its significance. It reminds him of Alec Lightwood, standing in his loft with his back to Magnus. It demands he move.

What coincidence--  _ because that’s it, isn’t it? _ \-- that the Magnus and Alec of that world seemed to know each other.

And here, he uses that term loosely.

He recalls the way That Alec spoke to him: the teasing, the heat,  _ the chuckle. _

Magnus didn’t know he could ache for something as badly as he had in that moment. And until now, really. No matter how brief, he had seen the way That Alec had looked hurt when he’d stepped away from him.

It was that realization that had pulled him back, after all.

What better anchor to your own universe than the realization that you didn’t have what That Magnus had? That in an alternate dimension, there was an Alexander Lightwood that seemed to have been the one pursuing Magnus Bane. And he didn’t want to take that away from That Magnus.

He finds his eyes drawn back to the invitation Isabelle had sent him.

The brief time he’s been in the other dimension had given him a glimpse into That Magnus’ most recent memories. They’d met  _ once _ , That Magnus and That Alec. They’d met once and parted on uncertain terms as That Magnus cleaned up the mess Jace and Clary had made while trying to avoid attracting attention.

But That Alec had seen him.

Manus had been ready to step back. As much as he was attracted to and curious about what he and Alec could be, he wasn’t going to pursue a married man. He sips his drink, noting that it was the same one he had shared with Alec the night he had stayed over.

Wanting a distraction, he turns the cover of Ragnor’s journal. In his peripheral, he sees a vision of Ragnor appear.

_ Magnus, have you seen him? _ Is the first thing he reads.

“There’s one in every universe.” Ragnor tells him, lounging comfortably in Magnus’ chair.

“What? A warlock falling for a pretty boy?”

“A Magnus and an Alec.”

Magnus starts but stays silent.

When Ragnor makes no additional remark, Magnus sets his glass down and thumbs through more pages of the journal. There isn't much he's understanding. He knows the words and can see what they're talking about, but all he can think about is every moment he's offered himself to Alexander and having it thrown back at him.

"Are you saying we're soulmates?" Magnus jokes, but it falls even more spectacularly than the plummeting of his own heart when Alec accused him of risking nothing to pursue a shadowhunter.

"I'm saying," Ragnor looks at him, every bit of himself unglamoured. The green of his skin clashes with the dark velvet of the chair. His horns shine in a way it hasn't in centuries. His hair is cropped shorter than it was at his death. It's the image of Ragnor that had travelled with himself and Cat, causing chaos and having fun. "That you've built these walls a thousand times over across different dimensions. I've seen it. But the only one who's ever managed to get you to look at them twice is that shadowhunter of yours."

"Not mine." He says, though his heart says otherwise. "He wants me to back off," he reminds himself.

"And when did the High Warlock of Brooklyn let himself be ordered around?" Ragnor stands, clasping his hands behind himself. "You've closed yourself off from love for long enough that you fear it nearly as much as you want it."

"Love?" Magnus questions, even as his heart soars at even just the possibility of it.

Ragnor's smile makes him look both younger and wiser. "When that kind of love comes back, you must do everything in your power to fight for it."

And he knows that.

He doesn't ask for clarification.

He doesn’t have to.

Magnus knows exactly what Ragnor means.

He doesn’t love Alec.  _ Not yet. _

But he could.

That flutter of  _ yes, maybe, possibly _ that he hasn’t felt in so long tells him exactly that.

Fully giving up the pretense of reading through the journal, he sets it down and closes it. He meets Ragnor’s gaze, and all he wants is to be able to take his friend-- _ his brother _ \--into his arms and be able to properly thank him.

Instead, he settles for a smile and a nod.

Hours later, after an unexpected kiss that leaves Magnus flying and grounded all at the same time, he thinks of That Magnus and That Alec. He doesn’t know what future they’ve written for himself, but he hopes it’s half as fulfilling as what he imagines his and Alec’s could be.

**Author's Note:**

> There will be at least three more fics after this, but not all this sweet. I was supposed to post this for something else but hey. *shrug* there's probably about two or three fics coming from this fic...because it may or may not connect to Broken Mirrors............but hey~
> 
> Comments and kudos are always appreciated! 💚
> 
> If you want to scream about Malec and everything shadowhunters, [join the Discord!](https://discord.gg/KYfKJQz9Zt)
> 
> If you want to reach me with a prompt or to scream about the fic or whatever (and don't want to join the server), find me on [twitter](https://twitter.com/mollyjae_twt)~


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